In August 2013, the Airports Commission published all of the responses it had received to its call for outline submissions of potential long term options for additional airport capacity. The Commission also published a list identifying potential short to medium term initiatives.
In response to the Commission’s call for comments by 27 September 2013, Transport for London (TfL) have written, tendered and published their response to the proposals. The paper seeks to set out: a number of important issues which it believes are associated with a selection of the long-term submissions (with detailed comments in Appendix A); and the Mayor’s views on the key short to medium term options which have been identified by the Commission. The report suggests four options TfL believe the Commission needs to address
- There is no common set of assumptions across the submissions
- Dispersed expansion will not only be unable to meet connectivity needs, but it would also have significant cumulative impacts
- Heathrow cannot be the future hub airport – and its expansion may require financial support from Government
- Surface access requirements are underplayed, and almost all proposals will require financial support from Government